One and only
by the-fairy-godmother
Summary: it's amazing how small a world can be, even when your not there. it seems Duke and Wildwing has someone very important in common. this is my first fanfic and ive only just found it again, so im now finally redoing it and finishing it hopefully. ww/oc
1. Prologue

Prologue

Eleanor L'Orange looked up at the grand house before her, with all the lights on and music playing. There was a party going on. A grand party, in a grand house, with grand guests, having a grand time. While she was outside, in the cold. She knew her brother was inside that house, gathering information, as this was a farewell party and she knew that in a few days they would be at this house again. Only this time, it would be to clean it out of everything valuable. Eleanor's young green looked up at a house where she would have loved to have been invited as a guest and not come as an intruder, but this was the only life she had known in all her 10 years.

Eleanor was small for her age, she assumed that was because she didn't eat as regularly as she was supposed to, yet she did eat more than her older brother. He always made sure of that. Often going without meals so she could instead. He has promised his mother on her death bed that he would always look after his sister, and he intended to keep that promise. He would keep her safe and provide for her as best he could, but as life as a criminal was all he had ever known, this was the only way he knew how to provide for her.

Eleanor hated being outside, in the dark and in the cold, out in the open. Especially in these gated communities, where there was security everywhere. She hated the thought that her brother might be caught, or that she might be caught and taken away from him. She also knew that Duke would never let that happen. That's when she heard it, that slight sound that was his signal to let her know that he was on his way out and to meet him at him at the designated spot, two streets away. She started up his bike and left the front of the grand house, knowing she would be back in three days time.

"Everything went off beautifully," the tall, lanky 18 year old said taken off his helmet.

He looked like a typical teenager approaching adulthood. He had dark brown colouring with a slight grey tinge, and a white streak through his hair. Eleanor on the other hand had lighter brown colouring, with long, wavy hair of dark brown, and like her brother, a few white streaks. Every time he looked at her he was reminded of his mother's beauty. She had died when Eleanor was three years old. Their father had died before she was born. Both of their parents had been the greatest thieves to have ever lived and had trained their son well. He intended to be just as great. They had never been caught, until the night that one of their own had betrayed them. That was how Stefan L'Orange had died. Fighting, to be a decoy as his pregnant wife and son had escaped. Maria L'Orange had died three years later, not of corruption or failure on her part, but of a disease that took over her body. This resulted in the then fifteen year old Duke to take care of Eleanor. It had been hard at first, as he had to always make sure she was safe, so he could only do small, easy jobs so he didn't need to take her with him. This resulted in little money. But as the years went by and her skills increased he felt safe having her as his partner. She was the best safe cracker that Puckworld has to offer. The jobs they did had therefore gotten bigger with larger pay offs over the last few years.

They never stayed anywhere long. They'd look for abandoned buildings mainly which were in easy reach of supermarkets, targets and the seedier areas of Puckworld. In these places they could hone their skills, practice with each other and be out of the way of the authorities. If someone found them then Eleanor would be taken away into care.

"Duke?" Eleanor asked, in her small, song like voice. A grunt from her brother was the reply. This usually meant yes.

"Duke, why do we do this?"

"To live," he replied.

"Why do we have to live like this?"

"Would you rather I left you somewhere?"

"No, I just wish we could be normal, that's all".

Duke stopped what he was doing and looked at her. She was staring up at him, with those big green eyes. She still looked so innocent, so young, but those eyes could melt the coldest heart. He did want something better for her, but this was the only way he knew had to get it. He sat down beside her, on the old beat up bed that they had found a few months ago and taken to their hide out.

"Normal is relative," he said softly, "in our family, this is normal. Well not this. Mum and dad were the best there was and we didn't stay in placed like this. Big hotels, villas and the like. I said I would look after you Ellie, and I'm doing my best. Once we get onto the big scores then we'll live like royalty." He gave her a hug before going off to practice with his sabre.

Duke had recently been hearing rumblings about a gang looking to recruit young talent, like himself and Eleanor. The reputation of their parents had been enough to recommend them to the boss of this gang and if they pulled off this job then they would have their ticket into the life he wanted for himself and his sister. The house belonged to one of the richest and most influential men in the area. This job was either going to make them, or break them apart.


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One

Wildwing Flashblade stood in front of the goal in the park that was just outside their university accommodation. He had started his first year a few months previous. He was a tall and very well built 18 year old and his skill in hockey had earned him a scholarship to university where he played in goal on the team. His best friend Canard had gotten the same scholarship to the same university and there were already comments among the couches of him being the captain of the team next semester.

He was currently playing a free for all with his 15 year old brother Nosedive, who had come for a visit, and with Canard. It was their usual game, with Wildwing in goal and the other two against each other. Wildwing sometimes didn't understand that though he had moved out of his mother's house, he still saw Nosedive so often. He would never admit it to his brother, but he did enjoy having him around.

At that moment neither had gotten a single shot past him and he was watching as they tried to steal the puck from each other to try for another goal, and that's when he saw her. Tall and beautiful, with a soft brown colouring. With hair that fell in long waves of dark brown down her back. He had never seen anyone like her, and unfortunately that was the last thing he saw for a while, as he was so entranced by this girl that he didn't see the slapshot that Nosedive had sent his way.

"Wh…what happened?" Wildwing asked, trying to sit up.

"You got hit, on the head. What the hell happened there Wing, you just stopped what you were doing?" Canard asked handing his best friend a bag of ice that Nosedive had just brought over.

"I don't know. I just saw…" Wildwing stopped there. He was aware that the two others were looking at him intently, trying to understand why the best goalie they both knew had been defeated by a slapshot, but he did not want to tell them that the reason he stopped was because he saw an angel walk by.

Canard had never seen that look on his friends face before. He seemed a bit dreamy. He wanted to know exactly what he had seen, but knew best not to push Wildwing if he didn't want to tell him. He would when he was ready.

"How bout we get a drink? A couple of guys in class told me about this great coffee house across the park. I heard that they have great soup and in this weather it seems like a good idea." Canard said, while helping his friend to his feet. Wildwing nodded in agreement, saying that that sounded like a good idea and the two of them started to walk in the direction of the coffee house when Nosedive reminded everyone of his presence and ideas of what he thought a visit to a university should entail.

"Soup? Coffee? What kind of uni students are you guys? I thought we would do something a bit wilder! Come on guys, lets hit a few clubs, have a few drinks, score some babes!"

"You sound like you were hit in the head with a puck, instead of him," Canard replied sarcastically while gesturing at Wildwing, "Come on kid, lets go".

That quietened him down for a while. So the three guys made their way across the park to the place that they had heard about. It was a nice, cosy looking place with green awnings and a green and brown sign that read "the Scene". Wildwing assumed this was a reference to some poem, as he knew a lot of the arts students gathered in these kinds of places. He normally didn't frequent coffee houses, but after that hit in the head and lying in the snow for however long he was out, he felt like he needed a nice hot drink.

However when he walked inside it wasn't at all like he had expected. It didn't seem to artsy or pretentious, it had a nice cosy atmosphere with lots of mismatched furniture that looked comfy and inviting. He could hear soft music playing in the background, some sort of acoustic guitar which didn't seem loud or overbearing. He was looking around for the source of the music while following the other two to a free table on the other side of room when he saw the angel again. She was standing behind the counter making coffee and talking to another girl. He couldn't take his eyes off her, which is probably why he tripped over a chair and fell to the floor taking a table, lamp and a couple of half full coffee cups with him.

Everything seemed to stop at that moment. The chatter, the music, the warm feeling that he got when he entered. He could hear sniggering, laughing and general mocking as he tried to untangle his legs from the chair. He looked up to see the girls behind the counter laughing and gesturing to him, while the angel was biting down on her thump to stop her laughing out loud.

Canard couldn't understand what was going on with his friend today, until he saw him stealing glances up at the counter and saw that kept looking at the girl he had seen in the park, which had allowed Nosedive to steal the puck from him earlier. He chuckled to himself as he helped his friend up and said quietly to him, "I know what your thinking about". Wildwing just looked down at his coffee stained jacket, knowing that he had just made a complete fool out of himself and he wanted to just run out of the place, but Canard held him firm and guided him to a nearby table.

Wildwing sat down trying to be as small as he could, and wishing that she didn't come over, but she did. Her long hair bouncing the entire way. He saw that her figure was slight, but curved in all the right places. She was wearing jeans, an oversized black shirt and a small green apron. He kept wishing that someone else would get her attention and that she would come over, but that never works.

"Hi there, my name's Ella, what can I get you guys today?" She said in the sweetest, sing-song voice he had ever heard, while she pulled out a pencil from her hair and a small order pad from her apron.

"Why yes. What would you recommend to three guys who had just worked up a sweat after an intense hockey training session?" Nosedive asked his youthful cockiness evident.

"A shower," The sweet song voiced waitress retorted. That seemed to put Nosedive back in his place. He sank back into his seat muttering under his breath that sounded something like hot chocolate with marshmallows.

"Good," she said, writing his order down, "And how bout you?" She was looking directly at Wildwing now. He could see straight into the brightest green eyes he had ever seen.

"Um, yeah, well, um, wh-what, um, I would, um"

"Are you always this articulate?" She asked

"What would you recommend?" Canard asked, saving his friend from further embarrassment.

"Well, we had a great ground roast today, if you want coffee. If you'd like soup we have a leek and potato which everyone seems to be enjoying. Oh, and some great cookies".

"We'll have two ground roasts then please, and some of those great cookies," Canard answered, absolutely certain that his friend could not form a coherent sentence. She finished writing the order, said she would bring that over right away, and turned on her heel after giving a winning smile to the three, which seemed to have been Wildwing's complete undoing as his face fell into his arms that were on the table.

"Smooth bro, real smooth!" Nosedive said as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Shut up Dive! You ok Wing?" Canard asked.

"She is … an angel" That was all he was able to get out before Nosedive burst out in hysterics and Canard slapped him across the head. So he went back to burying his head in his arms.

It didn't take her long to come across with their order. She set it down in front of them and as she did Wildwing was able to smell her perfume. As she set his drink down she smiled directly at him and his heart skipped a beat as she walked away.

He heard his name being screamed, but it was not by the angel he saw. It took a few seconds to realise that he was not in that coffee place, on Puckworld, but on Earth a whole six past that day. That he was not actually looking at her in her work clothes, but at a photo of Ella on his arm during a fair that he was holding. His name was being screamed again. He put down the photo, leaving his memories in his room as he went to see what all the noise was about.


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Wildwing walked down the corridor that lead to the large common room which was where the noise seemed to originating from. When he got into the room he saw Mallory and Nosedive in the middle of an argument, and a very loud one at that. There was always an argument going on in the Pond nowadays. The hockey season had closed for the year and their enemies, the Saurians, were long defeated and dead. The inactivity seemed to be driving everyone crazy, and also gave their leader time to think too often about the past. He stood there listening long enough to realise that the argument was about Nosedive's music. The arguments always seemed to be between Nosedive and Mallory. Mallory loved structure and discipline, while Nosedive thrived in chaos. This always offended her.

Wildwing was always being brought into arguments to stop them escalating into a full out war, while the others just let them get on with it. Grin was in the far corner mediating. Tanya was at the table in the centre of the room tinkering with some sort of new invention. Duke was off on the other side of the room practising his fencing stance. He stood there listening to this petty argument and was in no mood to deal with it, so he let out a long sigh and turned to walk back to his room and private thoughts.

"What's wrong with him?" Mallory asked in the direction of Tanya and Grin.

"Dunno," said Tanya, trying to work out their leader's ill mood.

"When one has a disturbance of the mind, it is very unlikely that they will tolerate a disturbance of surroundings," Grin said in his calm baritone. with the blank looks he then received from his team mates he continued, "He's got something on his mind therefore he doesn't want to deal hear other peoples problems".

Nosedive had gone silent, and was just watching his brother leave the room without a word. he couldn't understand why Wildwing was getting quieter and more antisocial. Usually during periods of quiet he liked to keep the team on their toes with snap practises and drills, but since the Saurians had been killed and along with them their hope of returning to Puckworld, Wildwing had retreated into his own thoughts and solitude. Nosedive suddenly thought that this can't continue and was determined to help his brother out of this.

"Now, what's wrong with him?" Mallory asked Tanya after Nosedive suddenly ran out of the room.

"Dunno," answered Tanya. Then she returned to her tinkering, while Mallory picked up the book she was reading before Nosedive had interrupted the quiet of the room.

"Bro?" Nosedive asked, entering his brother's room, seeing him sitting at his desk with his back facing him.

"Yeah?" Came Wildwing's dejected voice.

"You ok?" Nosedive asked, walking closer to his brother.

"Fine," Wildwing answered.

Nosedive was about to say something to his brother, but thought better of it, considering his brothers mood and tone. He was about turn and walk out of the room when he looked up and saw the photo in Wildwing's hand. Beautiful green eyes looking up into his brother's face. The brightest smile that seemed to be only for him. All hanging off her brother's arm with long brown eye bouncing around the two of them. Comprehension finally dawned.

"She always did have a smile that could light up any room," Nosedive said, sitting on the desk in front of his brother.

"I miss her. I miss her so much," Wildwing said, without taking his eyes off the photo.

"I know you do bro,"

"I was going to ask her to marry me," This declaration did not shock Nosedive. He knew that his brother was completely in love with Ella. He remembered the day they first met. Wildwing was head over heels before he even knew her name. when they eventually did start dating, well he had never seen his brother happier. Those two had been almost inseparable. He remembered one day when he had gone to visit his brother and he had completely forgotten. Nosedive eventually found him, in the park, trying to teach Ella to play hockey. He couldn't imagine how anyone didn't know how to play by the age of 17! When the three started to play Wildwing and Ella got into a play fight and fell on top of each other in the snow. He had never seen his brother act like that or smile like that. That was when Nosedive knew that she was going to be the one, and that one day she would become his sister-in-law.

Nosedive sat in his brother's room for the rest of the afternoon listening to what his plans for the future would have been, if not for the Saurian invasion. They both reflected on some of the things that Ella had done, and said. How she was able to put Nosedive in his place with no effort, how their mother had accepted her instantly and had given Wildwing their grandmother's engagement ring to use when he thought the time was right. Nosedive sat and listened to stories of Ella. He felt that this would be the best thing he could do for his brother, to allow him to finally get his feelings out.

Meanwhile, in the common room another mallard was thinking about the same girl, but he called her Ellie. Duke was thinking about his little sister. The last time he had seen her was before the invasion and they had argued. He hoped that she was ok and regretted what he had done to her.


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Three days later both Duke and Eleanor were back at the grand house. They were dressed in dark clothes, with the tools of their trade in easy reach. They sat watching for twenty minutes. It was after one in the morning and they were waiting for the security guards final lap of the gated community. The guards were supposed to patrol every half hour, but after a weeks heavy surveillance they knew that they only did it every hour until one o'clock after that there would not be another patrol until four.

Once they saw the retreating back of security guard number six, who had a busted knee and poor eyesight, they made their move. First Eleanor shot out, as quiet and unnoticed as death itself, and cut the power to the gate and the flood lights. Then Duke picked the lock of the side gate. It was smaller, quieter and out of sight. They moved in the shadows up to the conservatory door. It was the door with the easiest lock, and away from the security cameras. Though there was another door inside which had a double lock, it would mean they were completely out of sight in the smallest amount of time.

Once Duke had both doors were open Eleanor took car of the first security camera. She covered the lens with a regular video camera cap. They had stolen them from a few electronics stores a few days earlier once Duke had found out which model was used. She then made her way to the hallway closet to turn off the security system for the house.

Once all that was done both Duke and Eleanor took off their masks and turned on their flashlights.

"What did I tell you Ellie, we've hit the big time now!" Eleanor had to agree. Everywhere she looked she saw riches and they were just in the hall!

Duke directed her towards the office while he would go to the living room to lift the finer ornaments. Once Eleanor arrived in the office she looked around to figure out the best place to hide the downstairs safe which would hold the families lose cash and other valuables which they didn't keep in the safe upstairs. She saw where it would be. It was in a fake filing cabinet. She sat down before it and put her fingers to it and took out a piece of chalk. She had great skill at cracking safes. Her brother can pick locks and get around most security systems, but he could not crack safes. While he had to use other methods to open them, which were usually loud, bulky and costly she was able to sit in front of the door and open it by feeling. It was what made her mother famous.

In a few minutes Duke had filled the first bag of everything valuable downstairs and had come to sit beside her while she worked. It only took another few to have the safe open. While he began to empty everything worth taking Eleanor headed upstairs to the master bedroom to find the second safe, which held the really valuable jewellery.

She knew where the room was, top of the stairs and second door on the right. But she didn't head there first. When she got to the top of the stairs she turned to the left, to look into the children's room. She had seen them, while she was surveying the house. They were spoilt. They had whatever they wanted and she envied it. Not because they could have anything they wanted, if she put her mind to it she could take whatever she wanted, it was the fact that they had warm beds, in their own rooms, with two parents who would provide everything for them. And it always came with a receipt.

That was where Duke found her. He could almost read her mind as she looked longingly at the pink room. He put his hand on her shoulder and let her continue to fantasise for a moment longer before sending her to finish the job, while he took care of these rooms.

The bedroom safe was just as easy, and held more jewellery than she thought anyone person could need. She began to empty it out, while Duke finished the rest of the master bedroom.

The whole job took less than two hours. They were out of the house and back to their acquired car just after three. After that they took final look at the house and headed to the shady part of town, where they knew Bennie, the pawn broker would be waiting for them.

Bennie was a tall, older duck, who had once been a great thief and had actually worked with both Maria and Stefan L'Orange. Now he handled the stolen goods, got buyers and was basically the best means of communication in the world of crime. He also kept an eye on both Duke and Eleanor. When they arrived a little before four he was very impressed. He knew most of what was in that house and had buyers lined up, but he had no idea how much the complete haul was worth. He informed both L'Orange children that they had done very well, that he would have their money by morning. He also told them that he would be in touch with the Brotherhood of the Blade. This was the guild of thieves that were interested in them.

After they left with a small payment for their troubles, which was about a quarter of million pounds, they ditched the car and got on Duke's bike. It was now getting light, so they decided to have some breakfast. They had a change of clothes on the bike, so they went into a small café near the student area of Drake University.


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Wildwing knew that day would always be known as the most embarrassing day of his life. More so since the story had spread across Drake University and members of the hockey teamed seemed to like doing impressions of that failed conversation and table dive. He had no idea how they all knew because he was sure none of the team were there. He wanted to completely forget about the coffee place and the Ella, but it had now become one of the best places to hang out after a long day of training, and tales of the beauty behind the counter had also spread. He was also dying to talk to her. He had seen her around the university so much, though he was sure she wasn't a student. Every time Canard and himself practiced in the park he would see her walking to work or reading in the park. A few times he had gone up to her and tried to speak, but every time she looked at him and smiled he lost his nerve and chickened out.

Although every time he walked into the café he felt a slight cringe of embarrassment he and Canard still went in. Wildwing hoped he would eventual get up the courage to talk to her. He would watch her serving coffee and chatting to customers with such ease, but from what he heard nobody knew much about her, only her name. He would see other students, who were so much more confident than he was, and who he thought had a lot more going for them, try to chat her up and ask her out, and each time she had always declined. This came him hope and despair at the same time. It made him so happy that she did not accept these other guys but the fact that he thought they were better than him made him question why she would ever go out with him. They were so confident and chatted away with her so easily and he had yet to manage a full coherent sentence in her presence.

Canard always came with him for support. At the very least he had to give Ella the order. He did love talking to her though, and found her so attractive. If Wildwing wasn't completely head over heels for her, he would have asked her out on that first afternoon. But like Wildwing he thought she wouldn't accept his offer, and sometimes thought that she would never accept Wildwing either, yet he was sure he had seen something different in the way she looked at his friend. He wished his friend would finally get the courage to talk to her though. Every time it was the same thing. They'd come in, sit down, Ella would come round to take their order, Wildwing would freeze up completely, Canard would give her their order, then they'd sit around talking about classes or hockey.

One night, when Nosedive had come for another visit, the three boys had decided to go to the Scene for a late night coffee, before hitting the bars of the University District. When they entered they noticed a lot more people around than they would've thought for a Thursday night. They looked around and saw Ella busy by the stage area so Wildwing was able to go up and order the coffees while the other two found a table. They managed to get one in the middle of the room. It was quite lucky as the place filled up and in twenty minutes it became standing room only. After the coffee was drank Nosedive wanted to head out and hit some bars, but the other two wanted to know what was happening.

After a few more minutes a hush came over the place as Ella got up to the mike.

"Hi everyone, welcome to the Scene for our first ever open mike night," with that came a cheer from the crowd, "We've got some great performances lined up for you guys tonight which I hope you'll enjoy. So, with all that said, let's bring on the first act!" After that she ran off the stage, blushing quite obviously, as a group of guys got up on the stage.

The night was quite good. There were a few horrendous performances, including one comedian who didn't know what the word funny meant, but everyone seemed to be enjoying the show, even Nosedive. As the night was coming to a close Ella got up on the stage with a guitar. She looked nervous surveying the crowd.

"Well, I'm the last act of the night, and I'll be singing a song I wrote, and I hope you all like it."

As she strummed her guitar her sweet voice sang out in harmony. Her voice was perfect for the acoustic style. Her song was catchy and sung perfectly. It was such a sweet song and everyone seemed mesmerised, but through the entire song Canard noticed that Ella seemed to be singing to only one person in the entire place. The tall mallard sitting next to him. This made him feel there was hope for Wildwing yet.

After Ella had finished playing there was rapturous applause as she got off the stage, put her apron back on and went to hide behind the counter. After that Nosedive finally won and they headed out to a club, but not before both Wildwing and Ella eyes caught across the café. This made Wildwing's heart skip a beat, and though he didn't know it at the time, hers also skipped.

After a few hours at the club Wildwing left both Canard and Nosedive to the women at the club. He only had eyes for Ella and couldn't help but think over what happened earlier that evening. He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't realise that he had walked a familiar route back to the front entrance of the Scene. It was closed and he assumed that everyone, including Ella, would be home by now. That's when he heard it. Her voice, but it wasn't the usually sweet song tone. It seemed a little distressed. Wildwing decided it was best to check if she was ok, just to be on the safe side. So he went around to the side of the café, which seemed to be where the disturbance was coming from.

"I told you no, now please leave," came Ella's voice, which was trying to sound calm and firm, but a slight quiver gave her away.

"Aw babe, you not going to reconsider? I can take you to a really great party," came a male voice that Wildwing didn't recognise. He could see he was huge and towering right beside her. He was one of the guys he had seen trying to chat her up a few times and had also tried to pull her off to the side during the open mike night. She was standing by the side door of the café, having obviously been the one to close up. There were also three other guys were scattered down the alley.

"I don't want to party, I just want to go home. It's been a very long day," Ella said, more firmly to the lead guy, looking around at the other three. The guy in front of her suddenly stood up straight, his vast height baring down on her. Wildwing saw her take a step back, a little startled. He knew this was going to end very badly if he didn't intervene.

"Well then babe, how bout me and you go somewhere quiet to… relax?" It was a statement rather than a question.

"N-no, I have to get home," She said, starting to sound obviously scared.

"It wasn't a request sweetheart," The lead guy said with a slight growl in his voice. He then grabbed her arm to pull her closer to him, while the three other guys began to move towards them.

"Hey!" Shouted Wildwing as he made his way towards the small crowd down the alley.

"What do you want, can't you see we're having a private conversation here."

"What, with other guys watching?" Wildwing Retorted. "The lady here says she wants to go home, so I think you should let go of her arm and let her be on her way."

"Oh really? And you gonna make me, tough guy?" He said, pulling Ella closer while the three other guys started to round on Wildwing.

"I would rather you respect her decision to leave," This made the other four guys laugh quite cruelly. The leader then twisted Ella around and held her close.

"Let go of me!" She screamed as she stamped on his foot. This did make him let her go, but as she stumbled forward he grabbed her arm and slapped her across the face with all his might, which sent Ella flying into the wall.

This made Wildwing see red and before he knew what he was doing he had launched himself at the leader, knocking him over, before punching him in the face. One of the other guys then grabbed Wildwing off their leader and held him while the other two lay into him with all their might, punching him in the stomach, chest and across the face.

"Stop it!" Ella suddenly yelled as she hit the guy holding Wildwing over the head with a bin lid, slightly dazing and setting Wildwing free in the process. He then punched one of the other guys in the face, knocking him clean out while the other shot forward to grapple him. However, he was prepared for this and managed to throw him over his shoulders into the rubbish bins that lined the alley wall.

"Lets go, that whore isn't worth it." Came the voice of the leader after surveying the damaged that had been done to his lackeys. So he and the other two guys carrying the third turned and left.

"Oh my god, you're bleeding!" He heard Ella exclaim from beside him.

"Its really not that bad, it'll be fine."

"Don't be ridiculous, come inside and I'll help you clean it up." Ella said as she started to unlock the door, before grabbing Wildwing's arm and dragging him inside.

"Thank you, by the way," Ella said quietly as she was cleaning off the blood from Wildwing's face, "Those guys really didn't understand the meaning of the word 'No'".

"Yeah, not very smart for University students," Wildwing chuckled before the pain in his eye and beak made him wince. This made her smile.

"What's so funny?" He asked

"That's the most you've said to me in over a month."

Wildwing looked like a deer trapped in the headlights. He knew that he hadn't made the best first impression, but he at least hoped that she hadn't really noticed him. He felt mortified, but when he looked up she was still smiling.

"My names Ella, Ella L'Orange," she said offering him her hand.

"Wildwing Flashblade."

"It's nice to finally meet you and hear you talk. I hear that you're a great goalie."

"Yeah, well not great, you know, I'd say ok. If you want there's a game Saturday. It'll the first game where I'm starting goalie. Do you want to come?"

"That would be nice."


End file.
